I was on the road and couldn’t fill out a bracket before the March Madness started, so I printed out paper ones for me and Billy before I looked at any scores. Billy had already seen some of the scores, so he got one freebie that I missed (really, High Point?), but otherwise we’re on even ground. I’m having fun looking up all the scores and marking up the brackets. I am a nerd. We were going to go to Sea World today, but Christina still isn’t feeling well. We did come to Orlando (which was a wall of traffic from start to finish, thank you, Florida), but I think we’re going to stay in. Hopefully Christina feels better tomorrow. If not, she’s going to have to find a bench to lie down on because we have to check out of the hotel at 11.
Author: peanut7312
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March 19
Made it back to Jacksonville. We hit next to no traffic until we hit Jacksonville city limits, and then it was traffic the rest of the way home. Welcome home. We got pizza from Renna’s and it was delicious. Christina isn’t feeling well. Some kind of stomach issue. I wish we could help her, but I feel like these digestive things just have to run their course. Poor kid.
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March 18
Pretty decent drive from NJ to VA today. There were a couple spots with traffic, but nothing more than a few minutes and otherwise traffic was very light. I hope tomorrow is just as easy, but I take nothing for granted. We got to the hotel pretty early, around 3:15. I spent some time telling ChatGPT how disappointed I was with it (for some reason this felt necessary), did some crossword puzzles. Then we went to the Subway at the gas station for dinner, bought some snacks, played some Uno, called Billy. Now I’ve showered, watching some basketball, and pretty soon I’ll be off to sleep. I’m hoping to get an early start tomorrow. Arriving early enough to have time to relax before crashing is nice. Fingers crossed for another easy day. We’ll see. I’m ready for anything. Kind of.
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March 17
We had a nice day living the life at Aunt Cathrine and Uncle Bob’s senior living facility. It’s like living on a giant cruise ship. The place has everything imaginable. Today’s highlights included visiting the facility thrift shop, going to the pool, playing Uno, and having a fancy St. Patrick’s Day dinner in the dining room. They seem so absolutely happy here, and honestly, who could blame them? It has been so good to spend some time with them. I’m glad we made the trip.
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March 16
We traipsed the town today. I learned a very important lesson, which is that ChatGPT is a terrible trip planner. Like, class-Z-minus terrible. Still, we managed to have a good day. Not hard to do because let’s face it. NYC. We had dinner with an old friend and was spotted at random by my old boss while we were eating. What a cool NYC moment. We did a lot. Black and white cookies at Zaro’s at Grand Central, Color Factory, Miniso, lunch and frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, Chelsea Market, High Line, the Lego store, a stop at Starbucks during the worst of the torrential rain, dinner at Cowgirl, cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery, and back to the Jerz. I am exhausted and wired all at once. And that is why I ❤ NY.
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March 15
Made it to NJ in really great time. It’s so great to see Aunt Cathrine and Uncle Bob. We spent the afternoon and evening getting the grand tour and catching up on pretty much all the things. They seem so happy in their new place and I don’t blame them. This place is pretty awesome! They rented us the little guest apartment that is right next to theirs and it is really so very nice. I’m truly exhausted, though, and glad for some quiet time before going to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day – and hopefully not too wet. Please?
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March 14
It was a pretty smooth drive to Virginia today, but oh so long and boring. It was nice to arrive before dinner time so we had time to relax a little before heading back out. I’m loving my new car, which welcomed us to every state we drove through and only needed 1 1/4 tanks of gas to go 500 miles. Not too shabby, little car.
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March 13
It took a little over an hour of overtime, but I think I managed to get everything done at work that I needed to before going on vacation next week. There is so much to do and I am barely keeping up, but it is what it is at this point. I’m just happy I got the most important things done. I’m all packed and ready to leave in the morning. It feels weird to have everything done and not be rushing to do it. So this is what happens when you don’t leave everything for the last minute!
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March 12
My ankle still hurts after playing it “safe” and running on the sidewalk in the dark and not on the street, where I’m more likely to get run over if someone doesn’t see me. I was rewarded for that decision before I even rounded the corner, because I turned my ankle on some uneven sidewalk. It just keeps hurting more and more, which is annoying because I only got like two runs in after my last injury. The good news is it’s starting to feel better today, but with traveling next week, I will have to wait a little bit longer for my running fix. The good news is I found my headlamp, so I’ll be running on the flat pavement from now on.
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March 11
Robin had her second gymnastics trial class, this time level 2. Believe it or not, level 2 was easier than level 1, primarily because everyone in the class was between 7-9 years old. A lot of the apparatus they were using were too small for Robin to even use. She clearly needs to be in a level 3 class, which may still be too easy for her, but they are all filled. We’re waitlisted for one of them and in the meantime, Robin decided to stick with the level 2 class to brush up on her skills and stay active. I give her a lot of credit because it’s not easy taking a class when literally everyone is half your age, especially when you are only 14. It’s a huge developmental divide, but she’s into it, so I say yes! She also signed up for volleyball club at school, so I’m really happy to see her getting active in something. I hope it lasts.
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March 10
Nothing much happened today. I went out for a run this morning and it was still dark out. I haven’t really run in the dark before. Even though I wore a bright colored shirt, I’m not sure drivers could see me. It was a little unnerving. I may have to unearth a headlamp to run with. The run itself was good. I am doing intervals to try to build back some base mileage. It’s humbling, but it’s so good to be out there again. I’ve missed it so much. I had my car serviced this morning and that went about as smooth as can be. I was in and out in 45 minutes, and they washed my car too. Everything else was pretty much the usual. Work, dinner, dance. Rinse, wash, repeat.
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March 9
I completely forgot about Robin’s dentist appointment today. Billy asked me something about it right around the time I should already have had Robin in the car and been on the way. I ran out the door and made it to school in five minutes and they almost didn’t let me pick her up because dismissal was starting. I must have looked either desperate or pitiful, or maybe both, because she called for Robin anyway. We got stuck at a traffic light that wouldn’t change or else we would only have been about two minutes late. Which is impressive because I left the house 15 minutes before the appointment time. All that hustling was for nothing, though, because the dentist was 40 minutes late. Sigh. So much for my superpowers.
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March 8
Billy mentioned that the Atlantic Sun men’s basketball tournament was happening here in Jacksonville, so on a whim we went to the championship game. It was Central Arkansas against Queens University and it was a pretty good game. When there were 54 seconds left, we all guessed how long it would take before the game ended. We were all wrong, because the game went into overtime, which added another 10 minutes. Queens won, which, even though they’re not from the borough of Queens in NY, I consider a namesake, so I’m down. I think I will also root for them in the NCAA tournament. Why not? I’m glad we went. There were maybe 300 people there. Traffic was a breeze!
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March 7
The Gate River Run was a bit of a disappointment. If I had known the 5k was a completely separate race and not actually part of the Gate run, I probably wouldn’t have gone. My medal is so ugly, and it was the only reason I decided to race even though I haven’t been training. I have decided that I am going to run the 15k next year whatever it takes. If it takes me all year to train, I am going to do it. Also I did not in any way need to wake up at 4:30am. But I used all that extra time to look up 15k training plans for people with runner’s colitis. I can’t wait to get started.
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March 6
Picking up my race materials for the Gate River Run today felt somewhat shameful. There were tables and tables of race bibs being handed out – 18,000 of them – and my bib number is 18223. The tables only went up to 18000, so when I asked where the higher numbers were, the woman was like, “Oh, you want the 5K table. It’s over there.” And she pointed to a lonely table all on its own in a dusty corner (ok ok the corner wasn’t dusty). It had like 15 bibs on it (ok ok it was more than 15). I didn’t even get the same shirt as everyone else, and this one is crazy ugly. But… so it is. I will make the most of it. I did get a box of cous cous in my race bag. That’s exciting.
